Love and Lies • 𝑇𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑦 𝑆ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑏𝑦

Chapter Twenty-Three

Ann hadn't slept still since Tommy left her safe house. How could she when trouble never slept?

Even when the moon was at its apex and most people were fast asleep, it festered in Alfie Solomons and Sabini joining forces with the police to rid London of the Peaky blinders.

It grew with Campbell taking it in his own hands to ensure Tommy didn't bypass the responsibility of the assassination, by using members of his family - now held in prison - as leverage.

Two hours of arguing with him got her nothing but an order to  to meet Tommy at the house he owned through his sister in London. It was supposed to be for an emergency session on the mission, to change the course she and Tommy had ventured down. Campbell had his suspicions, he wanted things to be done his way. But he had no proof she was disobeying his commands. She just had to keep it that way for the next couple weeks.

Now she travelled to London intent on reassuring Tommy that she would help him find a way to  fix the mess Campbel had caused, as dread crept through her stomach. 

Still, ventured on and found herself unlocking the back door of the London house with the length of her knife and cautiously walking in. It was warm, decorated with a homey, feminine aesthetic from Ada Shelby taste - Ann assumed. 

Campbell's spies told her the sister wasn't home, so the space would be secure, but Ann kept her diligence as she swept the first floor. When she found it was empty, she moved to the second - making it to the second door on the left. She assumed it was another bedroom, and it proved to be as much when she opened it - but it was also so much more.

Tommy and a woman - Grace - sat on a couch. She worked to button her brazier while he pulled his arms through the long sleeves of his shirt. She watched them confused and surprised, but long enough for them to finally notice her. 

Grace gasped and quickly pulled her dress up to cover her chest. Tommy stood up, his shirt now on but unbuttoned. She looked from him to Grace once more, before a breath of a laugh that contradicted the emotions that coiled through her bubbled out.

She should say something. Anything. But she couldn't think of a single thing. For a second, she wished for anger and hurt, but none came. She was numb.

Then she turned around and walked away.

She made it to the top of the staircase when rough hands grabbed her wrist. Not hard, just firm, but the feeling of his skin being on her after just touching someone else while doing that made her nauseous.

"Do not." In her attempt to get his hands off her, she spun around and her other hand slapped his face. The only sign that she'd hit him were his eyes widening a fraction, but she faltered a little as she searched his face for any sign of pain, because although she was angry, she didn't want to hurt him. "Touch me." She sounded more tired than anything. 

Tommy let go and passed a stressed hand over his face. "Just wai-."

"Whatever game you and Campbell are playing." She said, putting the pieces of the night together. This was all some not so complicated play at power - including her. It was the entire reason she was even back in Birmingham in the first play. She'd bet her life that Campbell had sent her here, knowing what she would find. "I want no part in it." She finished, and he looked at her incredulously.

"That's what you think this is?"

"What the fuck else am I supposed to think it is?" She pointed to the room Grace was hidden in with venom, her eyes burning, as her feelings made themselves known again. "You're telling me no part of you sleeping with her had to do with Campbell...or hurting me..." She swallowed her nausea, unsure if feeling the hurt was worst. Her heart felt like it was being crushed in a fist. "Or maybe you do have feelings for her."